Impressions: Mists of Pandaria is more than just pandas

From the moment Blizzard announced World of Warcraft's fourth expansion, Mists of Pandaria, the company has faced allegations from long-time WoW fans that it was selling out to the youth demographic, aping children's flicks like Kung-Fu Panda in an effort to draw in youngsters. But barely three hours after I started playing the expansion, I had already seen my character pass out drunk—twice—and be accused of complicity in a genocide. So it seems obvious pretty quickly that these worries were unwarranted, and that Blizzard may have even gone out of its way to allay such fears.

The latest adventure in the online world of Azeroth is not without cutesy appeal, but it's also rife with the high fantasy melodrama and challenging dungeons that have kept World of Warcraft compelling over the years. If Blizzard aimed to court the youth demographic, then it has done a masterful job of incorporating that audience into its overall vision.

Into the Mists

Blizzard is still second to none when it comes to world building, and Pandaria's use of vibrant colors and enormous scale often results in incredible scenes that are a joy to look at. This is a particularly impressive feat considering the World of Warcraft framework that the expansion is built on is now eight years old. I remain astounded that Blizzard has managed to keep this game visually appealing so long after its shelf life should have expired. It seems ridiculous that World of Warcraft's visual appeal could be compared in the same breath to Guild Wars 2, a game that came out in August.

Pandaria features a heavy emphasis on a sort of faux-Chinese cartoon aesthetic that makes numerous references to Southeast Asia. It's a bit jarring at first to enter a fantasy realm and be presented with images that tie directly to a real-world culture, but World of Warcraft is no stranger to cribbing from historical examples. The Worgen from Cataclysm draw heavily on 19th century English themes, the Trolls have a Caribbean vibe (and accent), the Tauren borrow heavily from Native American culture, and the Dwarves are basically short, bearded Scots.

We chronicled our first steps into Pandaria when we previewed the beta last March, and the expansion's introduction seems to have remained unchanged since then. We spent most of our time in the final release traveling around the new zones built for characters between levels 85 and 90. These locales are markedly more complex than what we saw in the beta, both in terms of narrative and gameplay, and this is where we expect most players will spend the vast bulk of their time.

Those who are looking for something grander from modern MMOs than the standard "kill X of Y creature" quest template will be somewhat disappointed by Pandaria. That said, Blizzard has done a good job of adding some excitement to the basic formula. One of the first Alliance quests in Pandaria's first zone, the Jade Forest, sees players flying a helicopter and strafing away from Horde attack boats. Another quest further down the road features a sniper mission. These are hardly revolutionary features for video games at large, but they show Blizzard's continuing commitment to providing unique gameplay to MMO role-playing.

Battle Pets

Apart from the massive new continent of Pandaria, the biggest new feature in Mists is the introduction of the Battle Pets system. This is essentially a Pokemon-style metagame where players battle and train the vanity pets/companions they've been collecting through their time in Azeroth. Any creature labeled as a "critter" can now be captured, battled, and trained to its fullest magical potential. Ultimately, players try to train a crack team of three pets to battle against other players, and there's even an automatic matchmaking system for facilitating these battles effortlessly. These features are available to all WoW players, even without purchasing Pandaria, and there are also new pets all across Azeroth that can be collected and trained.

When I first tried out Battle Pets, I was convinced that it would be a silly, passing amusement at best, but several hours and dozens of pet battles later I felt differently. Taken objectively, the pet battle system is frustratingly simple. If your opponent has a pet that has a higher level and a faster attack speed than yours, then the match is practically decided before it has begun (at least that was the case in the early levels that we were able to play).

But the key to the battle system's appeal is the emotional connection players have with the pets they've been collecting throughout the main WoW experience. These aren't battles between random creatures with increasingly ridiculous names, as in Pokemon. Pets are little companions players may have been carrying around and showing off to friends (and setting against computer-controlled enemies) for years.

Emotional Attachment

So much of Mists of Pandaria is difficult to evaluate because of emotional attachments. Sure, the bulk of Pandaria's main gameplay feels a bit dated, and the quest structure is essentially the same as what was introduced eight years ago (apart from a few notable deviations). But I wonder if it's really constructive to look at the expansion through that kind of lens.

By the time a WoW player has reached Pandaria, he or she will likely have invested hundreds or even thousands of hours into that character. That's easily more time and character investment than any five Final Fantasy games played one after the other. As a result, even the most banal quest in Pandaria is going to be much more engaging because it's adding to an extended personal story.

It's difficult to know what Mists of Pandaria might be like for a new player, but I can say that it has been good fun to explore the land with a dwarf that's now over seven years old. I'm looking forward to diving further into the other zones and tackling the high level dungeons and raids once there are no more new lands to see.

Sure, the bulk of Pandaria's main gameplay feels a bit dated, and the quest structure is essentially the same as what was introduced eight years ago

This is all I needed to know. I'm glad I'm not missing anything. Judging by some of my friends' reactions, I almost wondered if I did the right thing by quitting halfway through Cataclysm because it all felt the same.

...Speaking of which, it'd be great if Azeroth could return to its RTS roots for once.

Agreed, but Warcraft 4 probably won't come out until after the next 2 Starcraft expansions. Then there is the normal Blizzard schedule of secrecy, polish, balance and marketing. So like 8 more years. And it won't work the first week.

Sure, the bulk of Pandaria's main gameplay feels a bit dated, and the quest structure is essentially the same as what was introduced eight years ago

This is all I needed to know. I'm glad I'm not missing anything. Judging by some of my friends' reactions, I almost wondered if I did the right thing by quitting halfway through Cataclysm because it all felt the same.

MoP is a huge step up from Cataclysm in quality. It brings back a lot of the old sense of wonder and awe, like stepping through the Dark Portal for the first time in The Burning Crusade. Cataclysm did a good job of revamping the old world and bringing it up to modern standards, and the new zones added had some improvements to the flow of questing, but Pandaria takes that to another level with the rich voiced dialogue and cutscenes.

If your opponent has a pet that has a higher level and a faster attack speed than yours, then the match is practically decided before it has begun.

One of the things that's always bugged me with game design like that. Higher level or gear? You win! While Guild Wars seems to have done a petty good job making gear and levels NOT always the deciding factor. Never understood why WoW didn't adopt a PvP structure more like that. The pet battle system being it's own thing would have been a good spot... but I guess they really wanted that authentic Pokemon flavor...

" Sure, the bulk of Pandaria's main gameplay feels a bit dated, and the quest structure is essentially the same as what was introduced eight years ago (apart from a few notable deviations). But I wonder if it's really constructive to look at the expansion through that kind of lens.'

I learned a long time ago that everything after "but" is bullshit. Panderia is nice to look at, yes, much like my ex-GF. Unfortunately, it's also still the same old same old and even with bigger boobs my ex-GF was still dumber than a bag of hammers.

These locales are markedly more complex than what we saw in the beta, both in terms of narrative and gameplay, and this is where we expect most players will spend the vast bulk of their time.

It would be useful for you to have given some examples. Maybe you expect everyone to stop reading this article, re-read the beta preview, and come back here, but you didn't touch on:

Pandarian (sp?) characters, starting zone, et alRemoval of races being tied to boxed expansions (all races are available to everyone now)The new talent systemMonks. Seriously, no discussion on the new class and its unique mechanics?End game raiding. While there's no expectation that you've hit 90 already and raided, what is the current philosophy from Blizzard? Hit 90 and chain run Heroics? Rep grinds? I've heard that raids will be unlocked weekly.Phasing. Does Mists use phasing as heavily as prior expansions?Dungeon Challenge Mode.

These are the things I was expecting to see some first-hand experience on. Of course, this isn't a review, only "impressions," but it's pretty weak for front page content. YMMV.

1) Story is outstandingly good.2) Areas are extremely well designed and make the most of every square inch.3) Gear and artwork is generally outstanding.4) Pet Battles and farming/cooking: Fun, but there's so much to do that I don't know when I'll get to them to explore in greater detail (pets past lv 10).5) Dungeon mechanics are interesting and engaging. Heroics aren't nearly punishing enough if you stand in the fire though. Haven't tried Challenge modes yet.

All in all, colour me very happy. This is an expansion worthy of the Burning Crusade.

It's funny because the emotional attachment to my character(s) is really the only thing that is trying to pull me back. Game-play wise I've moved on. I'm now playing GW2 and absolutely loving it. At the same time, I can feel my Forsaken Warrior calling to me. And it's not the changes they made to warrior, I hate them, it's not the additions to the world, I'm not drawn to them, it's just Noxia, my Forsaken Warrior that's calling to me. I don't know why, but I can't seem to get nearly as emotionally involved with my GW2 characters, I regularly delete and create the majority of them where as i would never delete Noxia. I think that's the real secret to Blizzard's success. They have the ability to make you care about your characters like no other company does.

...Speaking of which, it'd be great if Azeroth could return to its RTS roots for once.

Agreed, but Warcraft 4 probably won't come out until after the next 2 Starcraft expansions. Then there is the normal Blizzard schedule of secrecy, polish, balance and marketing. So like 8 more years. And it won't work the first week.

Blizzard is still a one trick pony. Considering how bad Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 were I wouldn't bet on them being able to return to their RTS roots. Kinda sad really...

Subcriber numbers continue to decline because of how dated and old this game is. Nothing vastly innovative for the franchise the same old tired gameplay.

The graphics are old and dated. Compared to GW2 WoW is just ugly as ever. GW2 is incredibly more detailed than this.

I cant see WoW surviving much longer. Its been dying for months even years. Most of the original release player base has left the game. This expansion was nothing but a desperate attempt to keep longtime fans on.

Honestly they are clearly running out of ideas. Most of the longtime villains of the RTS versions have been killed off. Theres only a small bit of old villains left to draw upon.

...Speaking of which, it'd be great if Azeroth could return to its RTS roots for once.

Agreed, but Warcraft 4 probably won't come out until after the next 2 Starcraft expansions. Then there is the normal Blizzard schedule of secrecy, polish, balance and marketing. So like 8 more years. And it won't work the first week.

Blizzard is still a one trick pony. Considering how bad Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 were I wouldn't bet on them being able to return to their RTS roots. Kinda sad really...

Really? Starcraft 2 didn't really draw me in much, but I felt like it was quite well done. Diablo 3 is a trainwreck for PR, however. It will be interesting to see how the D3 experience changes (or taints) customer views on Blizzard products moving forward.

I've said it for a while but warcraft 4 won't come out till WOW numbers start dwindling for a multitude of reasons.

Somehow though I think that Warcraft 4 will be based on a subscription model of some kind, kind of like what torchlight claimed to want to be. E.g. Dota with subscription, which also gives you Wow access or vice versa.

I went ahead and rerolled as a Monk, as attached as I am to the character I've played since WoW launched originally I wanted something different. And I am not disappointed in any way. Monks are incredibly well fleshed out, and it shows that a lot of thought was put into making them not be clones of other classes with the same role.

I haven't experienced the new end game content (my Monk is only 78 atm) but from what I heard from all my guildies there is a ton to do and it's very clear that a lot of the content will keep them busy for a long time. Lots of rep grinds, dailies, and the addition of Farmville and Pokemon is keeping everyone occupied -- and in a good way. I heard them all yapping away about what they are growing and what pets they are training up. Some even argued about what is better.

MoP overall is better than Cataclysm, and on par with TBC/WotLK.

edit -- For those of you bemoaning WCIII and how WC needs to go back to its roots, --- one word -- IRONY. ... WoW came about at the same time as WCIII did, initial designs had some sort of combined RPG/RTS hybrid that they broke into two games.

Pandarian (sp?) characters, starting zone, et alThe new talent systemMonks. Seriously, no discussion on the new class and its unique mechanics?

I have been a strong opponent of the new talent system ever since it was first demonstrated at Blizzcon last year. Granted, they were also showing that they were going to be taking Warrior's Shockwave (very important for tanking and earned at level 70 in Cataclysm I believe) away and making it a level 90 ability, which is not how it ended up. With the level of changes they have made trimming away useless abilities and beefing core classes (eg, now all priests can cast Circle of Healing, not just Holy Priests), the new talent trees reduce the number of choices you have to make by quite a bit. I'm still a bit torn as it feels like they are reducing choice, but so many abilities were considered "must have" anyway that you only had a few points to really customize in the past as it was.

The Pandaren Monk (only Panda I'm playing so far) is actually very well done. Currently, Prot Warriors are a very smooth form of tanking, but the Monk may be even smoother. W/BOA gear I have quickly gotten myself to level 47 and that has been while also working on higher level characters. One Monk in my guild is about halfway thru the 70s already. The starting area is very in depth and well designed, but I don't feel compelled to make multiple Pandas to be able to go thru it again like I did the Goblins in Cataclysm or the Death Knight in Lich King.

Abulia wrote:

Removal of races being tied to boxed expansions (all races are available to everyone now)

Actually I wasn't aware races weren't tied to expansions anymore. I know that the 2 BC races are available to anyone, but you couldn't create a Panda unless you had the MoP expansion. As far as I know, you still have to own Cata to create a Worgen or Goblin.

Abulia wrote:

End game raiding. While there's no expectation that you've hit 90 already and raided, what is the current philosophy from Blizzard? Hit 90 and chain run Heroics? Rep grinds? I've heard that raids will be unlocked weekly.Phasing. Does Mists use phasing as heavily as prior expansions?Dungeon Challenge Mode.

I believe a recent interview w/one of the Blizz devs said that phasing is utilized less than it was in Cata, but the phasing doesn't make it so your friends can't interact along w/you anymore. So it's still used, but more flexible.

They compared the current raid content to Tier 11, meaning a LOT of bosses and plenty more lined up. They were planning to wait till this week to unlock the first raid, but I haven't seen anything about weekly unlocks of new material.

Challenge mode, I'm not high enough to experience yet, but the devs have said they have no intention to nerf the challenges b/c they are supposed to be hard. The theory w/challenge modes is tha the normal non-heroid 5 mans aren't that tough and if you want harder, run the challenge versions. This works for me as it encourages people to do the content and get leveled up, then they can branch out a bit and decide what to do from there.

As far as other things added like pet battles, I haven't done them yet, but I do want to see my Mini-Diablo I got w/the launch Collector's Edition battling other pets heh. So far the new expansion is great and I'm really enjoying some things I always hated, like Scholomance. I know the heroic version is new, but I don't think I ran it in Cata after they re-leveled everything. The new version of Scholo is much clearer where you need to go to get things done. So that may not be a new feature but its new to me. Maraudon is still kinda boring tho heh.

Something else, the devs have also claimed that tank classes can just throw on regular dps gear and tank the new instances (pre-heroic). I don't think that is true and if I was healing and I saw someone in full dps gear, I would drop group in a heartbeat. They do have quest gear related to your spec now tho, so you can certainly quest and get decent gear and not have to go out of your way to find good gear for tanking. THAT is a huge quality of life improvement.

I recall reading the races descriptions and there were a few that said that they came from another planet (WTF?). There is space travel yet they are still fighting with swords? I guess I just expect my fantasy worlds to make sense.

It's funny because the emotional attachment to my character(s) is really the only thing that is trying to pull me back. Game-play wise I've moved on. I'm now playing GW2 and absolutely loving it. At the same time, I can feel my Forsaken Warrior calling to me. And it's not the changes they made to warrior, I hate them, it's not the additions to the world, I'm not drawn to them, it's just Noxia, my Forsaken Warrior that's calling to me. I don't know why, but I can't seem to get nearly as emotionally involved with my GW2 characters, I regularly delete and create the majority of them where as i would never delete Noxia. I think that's the real secret to Blizzard's success. They have the ability to make you care about your characters like no other company does.

This is so weird to me. I don't know anything about my troll hunter who was my main for years. The only attachment that I feel towards him is remembering the dungeon runs with friends and all the hilarious fails that occurred or the improbable successes. Blizzard only succeeded in making me care for my main by adding abilities that affected those dungeon runs (FD almost always ends in hilarity).

I don't feel any connection to my GW2 characters yet either, but since my guild just ran me through my first dungeon, it's starting to get me to care about my character more. Suddenly, my outfit color choices mattered for some reason. My stupid hat elicited several jokes. These are the sorts of things that make my character memorable and non-deleteable.

Also, GW2 has spoiled me for cooperative play. I'll never go back to an MMO with "tagged" enemies and such rough to start group play. It's so counterintuitive to an MMO that it's amazing that it took this long to get around it.

I played from late vanilla until halfway through Cataclysm (2006 to 2011) and all I have to say is that you're a fool if you're still "addicted" to paying $15 a month for the grand opportunity to do 80 daily quests a day.

Sure, the bulk of Pandaria's main gameplay feels a bit dated, and the quest structure is essentially the same as what was introduced eight years ago (apart from a few notable deviations). But I wonder if it's really constructive to look at the expansion through that kind of lens.

Sure, the game is old, and the combat is lame, and it's a massive grind, and nothing has changed. But is it really fair to judge a game based on what it is? Really?

This article is pointless fan service.

WoW was great for its time. It's experiencing the same thing that happened to other great games: EQ, UO, etc. Bloat. You build it, release it, and start going crazy with expansions to keep people hooked. And for a very long time you'll have a committed player base because of nostalgia and community ties. Natural MMO life cycle, nothing wrong with that. It doesn't even mean this expansion is bad. It probably kicks the pants off the original game. But all things age, all things die. And while WoW will be alive for many years yet (Ultima Online is still kicking around out there) it has passed the phase where it can put sugar and icing and cherries on the sawdust flavored cookie and get people thinking that cookie is awesome. People got wise to the formula and now need a new one to truly get engaged again.

It's just a shame WoW had the popularity it did. The death will, as a result, be longer and slower. And it will keep players who are tied in by community and nostalgia away from newer titles that deserve the support and have better gameplay. MMO is a market that probably won't truly be viable until WoW gets cut in half. Or more.

If your opponent has a pet that has a higher level and a faster attack speed than yours, then the match is practically decided before it has begun.

One of the things that's always bugged me with game design like that. Higher level or gear? You win! While Guild Wars seems to have done a petty good job making gear and levels NOT always the deciding factor. Never understood why WoW didn't adopt a PvP structure more like that. The pet battle system being it's own thing would have been a good spot... but I guess they really wanted that authentic Pokemon flavor...

Back in "vanilla" WoW it wasn't quite as simple as "higher level = win". Sure, a level 60 against a level 40 wouldn't be too hard to predict the outcome of. But, as a level 50-something you could definitely do actual damage against level 60 characters in world PvP.

And since leveling was slower back then it wasn't all that unusual to see world PvP with a whole bunch of level 20 - 60 characters with three or four level 40-50 chars ganging up on a single level 60 in the middle of a large battle. These days world PvP is mostly max level chars battling it out though and any fight between a level 90 char with a piece or two of PvP gear against a level 88 or less will end the same way every time.

I'm enjoying the new expansion, but with Borderlands 2 out, I haven't been able to put much time in. I really hate starting over, but the monk seems like it will be pretty powerful in the end. I just wish I had a refer a friend bonus for that triple xp boost.

By the time a WoW player has reached Pandaria, he or she will likely have invested hundreds or even thousands of hours into that character. That's easily more time and character investment than any five Final Fantasy games played one after the other.

It seems like this is geared more to re-addict the current crowd, but for those of us who played somebut never got hugely into it - there's no reason to jump in now. I'm perfectly fine with that, they probably would have gotten in more trouble if they had tried to reinvent the wheel. I'm also glad they didn't kid-ify it either.

Those those playing it - have fun. I'll stick with borderlands and AC3 soon ish. Oh halo? :x

I recall reading the races descriptions and there were a few that said that they came from another planet (WTF?). There is space travel yet they are still fighting with swords? I guess I just expect my fantasy worlds to make sense.

The Draenei crashed from space, but orcs actually came via dimensional portals I believe. I'm not super heavyu on the lore of Warcraft. wowwiki.com would know.

I'm sure it's a high quality product. But i'm done with World of Warcraft, wasted too much time on it and at this point i'm not only bored by it. But i'm done throwing cash at such an old game. Maybe "project Titan" will grab my attention.

Actually I wasn't aware races weren't tied to expansions anymore. I know that the 2 BC races are available to anyone, but you couldn't create a Panda unless you had the MoP expansion. As far as I know, you still have to own Cata to create a Worgen or Goblin.

As per Blizzard, they're all unlocked now.

Quote:

With the release of patch 5.0.4, we’re making all the races of Azeroth playable by anyone, no matter which version or expansion of World of Warcraft they own. This includes the enigmatic pandaren, who will become available for play when Mists of Pandaria is released on Tuesday, September 25. We want the entire World of Warcraft community to be able to embrace their inner goblin, blood elf, worgen, draenei, or pandaren from the moment they step foot into the world of Azeroth.

Thanks for the rest of your post and impressions. I'm particularly interested in hearing more about Challenge Modes.

Subcriber numbers continue to decline because of how dated and old this game is. Nothing vastly innovative for the franchise the same old tired gameplay.

The graphics are old and dated. Compared to GW2 WoW is just ugly as ever. GW2 is incredibly more detailed than this.

I cant see WoW surviving much longer. Its been dying for months even years. Most of the original release player base has left the game. This expansion was nothing but a desperate attempt to keep longtime fans on.

Honestly they are clearly running out of ideas. Most of the longtime villains of the RTS versions have been killed off. Theres only a small bit of old villains left to draw upon.

It's quite possible that subscriber numbers have declined, but I think it's pretty tough to argue that this expansion is any kind of desperate gamble to keep players' attention, and moreso than any MMO expansion. Blizzard has been planning regular expansions for a long time now.

I stopped playing World of Warcraft over a year ago, completely burned out on Cata. When I saw what Blizzard was doing with the talent system I was fairly certain I wouldn't play again, and when I saw the next expac was going to be Pandas and pet battles I laughed at how ridiculous the future of WoW looked.

My son stuck with the game, and threw out little snippets of how well the Monk class was designed, sending me a screenshot or two of how beautiful the zones looked. And more importantly, I heard him laughing with his friends and having a great time. Bored one afternoon, he dared me to spend some time playing with "Pandamon" (my nickname for MoP).

So I decided to try it out, one more time, and it took about 30minutes before the damn game had me hooked again. It's fun this time around, unlike Cata. The quests are enjoyable, attention was given to the story, and there is finally more to do than chase after the next piece of gear.

It's amazing to me how well Blizzard puts this game together. Although they failed with Cataclysm, MoP expands on everything good they established with vanilla WoW, Burning Crusade and Wrath.

Why couldn't developers like BioWare do the same for their mmo? Why is Blizzard so good at creating this silly little world of elves, dwarves, cows and now... pandas?